Printable Pinyin Chart and Cheat Sheet
CHINESE PINYIN CHART | w ww.studycli.org | L earn Chinese in China |
a o e i u ü
a ai ao an ang o ong ou e ei en eng er i ia iao ie iu ian iang in ing iong u ua uo ui uai uan un uang ü üe üan ün
b ba bai bao ban bang bo bei ben beng bi biao bie bian bin bing bu
p pa pai pao pan pang po pou pei pen peng pi piao pie pian pin ping pu
m ma mai mao man mang mo mou mei men meng mi miao mie miu mian min ming mu
f fa fan fang fo fou fei fen feng fu
d da dai dao dan dang dong dou de dei deng di diao die diu dian ding du duo dui duan dun
t ta tai tao tan tang tong tou te teng ti tiao tie tian ting tu tuo tui tuan tun
n na nai nao nan nang nong nou ne nei nen neng ni niao nie niu nian niang nin ning nu nuo nuan nü nüe
l la lai lao lan lang long lou le lei leng li lia liao lie liu lian liang lin ling lu luo luan lun lü lüe
z za zai zao zan zang zong zou ze zei zen zeng zi zu zuo zui zuan zun
c ca cai cao can cang cong cou ce cen ceng ci cu cuo cui cuan cun
s sa sai sao san sang song sou se sen seng si su suo sui suan sun
zh zha zhai zhao zhan zhang zhong zhou zhe zhei zhen zheng zhi zhu zhua zhuo zhui zhuai zhuan zhun zhuang
ch cha chai chao chan chang chong chou che chen cheng chi chu chua chuo chui chuai chuan chun chuang
sh sha shai shao shan shang shou she shei shen sheng shi shu shua shuo shui shuai shuan shun shuang
r rao ran rang rong rou re ren reng ri ru ruo rui ruan run
g ga gai gao gan gang gong gou ge gei gen geng gu gua guo gui guai guan gun guang
k ka kai kao kan kang kong kou ke kei ken keng ku kua kuo kui kuai kuan kun kuang
h ha hai hao han hang hong hou he hei hen heng hu hua huo hui huai huan hun huang
j ji jia jiao jie jiu jian jiang jin jing jiong ju jue juan jun
q qi qia qiao qie qiu qian qiang qin qing qiong qu que quan qun
x xi xia xiao xie xiu xian xiang xin xing xiong xu xue xuan xun
w wa wai wan wang wo wei wen weng wu
y ya yao yan yang yong you ye yi yin ying yu yue yuan yun
a ai ao an ang o ou e ei en eng er
N ote: a pinyin syllable in b old indicates its vowel sound has a more commonly used variation within the pinyin system (for example: z i vs. ni; y an vs. ban; y e vs. de; y uan v s. duan; etc.)
Pinyin Cheat Sheet Pinyin Cheat Sheet
The Chinese Language Institute The Chinese Language Institute While learning pinyin, it is most efective to listen to and repeat each pinyin sound, as opposed to just relying Pinyin Approximate sound (based on American English) on a key like the one below (for an audio pinyin chart, visit studycli.org/pinyin-chart). That said, the following ian Sounds like the English letters E + N strung together in succession cheat sheet can be very helpful when conceptualizing and memorizing pinyin sounds. iang Pinyin ‘i’ + pinyin ‘ang’ in No equivalent, but similar to a cross between se en and sin Pinyin Approximate sound (based on American English) ing Like ing in sing a Like a in ma m a iong Pinyin ‘i’ + pinyin ‘ong’ ai Like e ye (example: Shangha i) u Like the o o in to o ao Like o w in co w (example: Chairman Ma o) ua Pinyin ‘u’ + pinyin ‘a’ an Pinyin ‘a’ + ‘n’ uo Pinyin ‘u’ + pinyin ‘wo’ ang Pinyin ‘an’ + ‘g’ ui Pinyin ‘u’ + pinyin ‘ei’ (example: Gu ilin); add consonant and ‘ui’ sounds like w ay o No equivalent (when ‘o’ is preceded by a consonant, use the ‘wo’ sound [example: bwo, pwo, mwo, fwo]; the ‘o’ and the ‘uo’ sounds are very similar) uai Pinyin ‘u’ + pinyin ‘ai’ ong Pinyin ‘ou’ + ‘ng’ uan Pinyin ‘u’ + pinyin ‘an’ (like the Spanish name ‘Ju an’) ou Like o h in “o h no!” or the English letter O un No equivalent, but similar to a cross between w in and w oon e Like u h in du h or u in u p uang Pinyin ‘u’ + pinyin ‘ang’ ei Like a y in ba y or the English letter A (example: Be ijing) ü* No equivalent, but be sure to curl your upper lip en Like u n in fu n üe* Pinyin ‘ü’ + ‘eh’ as in e d ucation eng Pinyin ‘e’+ ‘ng’ (like u ng in fu ngu s) üan* Pinyin ‘ü’ + the e n in whe n i Like e e in be e or the English letter E yuan* Sounds like the English letters U and N strung together in succession zi, ci, si* No ‘i’ equivalent, but the sound is similar to the i in zit ün* No equivalent, but similar to a cross between w in and w ean z Like d s in kid s r No equivalent, but be sure to curl your tongue up near the top front of your mouth and create a vibration in the front of your mouth while making an ‘r’ sound c Like ts in cats ji Sounds very similar to the English letter G s Like s in s a y q No equivalent, but similar to ‘ch’ except w/ your tongue in the front of your mouth zhi, chi, In zhi, chi and shi, like the u r in chu rc h x No equivalent, but similar to ‘sh’ except w/ your tongue in the front of your mouth shi* yan* Rhymes with ‘ten’ zhi* Like jur in jury ye* Like y e in y es chi* Like c hur in c hurc h wen* No equivalent, but similar to the English word w hen shi* Like s hir in s hirt ia The be e pinyin ‘i’ + pinyin ‘a’ (use the be e pinyin ‘i’ for all ‘i’ that follow below) iao Pinyin ‘i’ + pinyin ‘ao’ Additional notes ie Pinyin ‘i’ + ‘eh’ as in e d ucation ● When using pinyin to type Chinese characters on a computer or cell phone, nü and lü (e.g., used for “woman” 女 and “green” 綠, respectively), are typed into the keyboard as nv and lv iu Pinyin ‘i’ + pinyin ‘ou’ (sounds like the English letters E + O strung together) ● Even though the following pinyin combinations use the üan construction, juan, quan, xuan and yuan are written with a standard U, not with the umlaut (ü) *denotes that the vowel sound has a variation within the pinyin system (for example the i in si)